Here’s a link to Gamespot’s coverage of the Tokyo Game Show.  I want FF Tactics A2, but there’s no USA release date :(.  My poor husband has been waiting for Metal Gear Solid 4 for ages it seems.  Sigh …there’s still no compelling reason yet to get a PS3 ….

Here’s the website URL:  http://h20435.www2.hp.com/#

I got there from the hpshopping.com website.  I rolled over the tool-less entry link and the animated components popped out of the case and tears literally came to my eyes.  Nice … no more blood pooled in the bottom of the case.  I have always bought the components for and assembled all the gaming computers my husband and I have owned.  Not once have I ever been able to do this without cutting myself on some point on a sharp metal edge, leave a little pool of blood at the bottom of the case.  It has become sort of a little trademark.

Anyhow, the specs and the available options are impressive.  I’m curious to see what the lowest priced configuration will include.  I also like that I can do upgrades myself so I can get the base model and upgrade as funds become available.   CNET gave the Blackbird 002 they tested 9.3/10 which is excellent.  In the benchmark testing it looks as though the performance is tuned for multimedia more than gaming, but it looks like a respectable rig in the gaming benchmarks too.   I now have another potential gift to look forward to this Christmas besides an iPod Touch.  My only question:  Since the case is aluminum, can I get it custom engraved at HP before it gets shipped to me?  I know I’ll be getting an engraved iPod for Christmas with one of those “very special” messages from my husband.  My current iPod reads “Homer” on the back (all you “Simpsons” fans snicker away).

Oh!  “Shoot Em Up” and “3:10 Yuma” this weekend.  Look forward to the reviews next week :)!

More reason to cry:  The dedication edition is $5500!!!   Oh, well, I won’t be getting one unless I win the lottery.  So I guess the Blackbird 002 will be trophies for entertainment stars and sports heros 😦 who really don’t have enough time to use them.

My husband plays WOW and up until last weekend, one of his nightly questions to me, besides inquiring on the status of his pajamas, is “when are you going to start playing WOW with me?”  He insists we would be an unbeatble team because I’m the master of character and resource management.  My standard response to him is that if we both played WOW the household would fall into further disrepair than it already is and I enjoy having a life.  (Yep, we’re the annoying neighbors with the overgrown yard that is now dead.  The city has told us that our yard is a fire hazard.  This was, no doubt, prompted by the complaint of an annoyed neighbor.)   And then comes “Enchanted Arms” and I’m hooked.  Last weekend marked the second weekend of my Enchanted Arms addiction and the second week that I had not cooked, cleaned, or done the laundry.  Waking up briefly from the fog of addiction, I found out that sometime within those two weeks the refrigerator had broken and ice maker was dribbling water onto the floor because the freezer was a nice warm 35-degrees F, and the fridge was at a balmy 55F.  The laundry pile was waist high and  pushing its way out of the laundry room.  Fortunately, my little guinea pig, Snowball, LOUDLY let me know when he was feeling neglected so he was fine (he NEVER misses a meal).  And so last Saturday night, the first of the usual questions my husband asks me came around — “Honey, do I have any bed shorts?”  And this time I answered, “No, you have no clean bed shorts because I’ve been playing Enchanted Arms for the last two weeks.”  And then he asked, “Um, how about some underwear?  Hey! my drawers are empty!”  to which I replied “Yep.  By the way, the fridge is broke”  And then he became silent.  The next morning, bright and early, I set to cleaning up after 2-weeks of neglect.  My husband, without a word, went outside and mowed the dead lawn and cut back the bushes.  When night fell and the laundry was neatly folded and basketed, my husband without a word, carried those baskets upstairs.  Oh, and the kicker!  On Tuesday night he ironed his own shirt!  The fridge miraculously fixed itself.  Apparently something froze and it just needed to be defrosted.

I’m not one of those people who makes a big deal out of female and male roles in a household.  My husband and I do what each of us is good at.  But let there be no mistake, somebody has to check, every once in a while, that the fridge is still working ;p.

Here’s a thoughtful editorial from BBC news that discusses gamer stereotypes.  I’m definantly one of those gamers who encloses themselves in a dark room (alienating and neglecting my husband), surrounded by food and drink, for hours (sometimes days, with little nap breaks so I don’t completely lose it — this would be known as the 2-week winter break I take around Christmas time.  I have yet to go so as far as to bring my toilet with me to the sofa, though.)  This is why I only get into games, now, a few times a year, because if I gamed as much as I wanted, my husband would starve to death, the house would become a trash pit, and I would be fired from my job due to frequent absenses.     Anyhow, enjoy this article as it discusses the matter of the myth and the truth of the asocial gamer.